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David Price vs the Yankees – What Needs to Happen

One game in a 162 game schedule is generally
considered to be meaningless.The
importance of that one game becomes more magnified when it against a division
opponent, but it again is only one of nineteen games against that
opponent.It becomes magnified even
greater when that opponent in your long-time rival and your direct competitor
for the divisional title.

Photo courtesy of masslive.com

With the Red Sox in a statistical tie with the Yankees
heading into a three game series in the Bronx this weekend, each one of these
games takes on far greater significance. The way things are shaping up this season,
these two American League East behemoths are each on pace to win over 100 games.But only one can take the AL East crown, with
the other relegated to Wild Card status and the dreaded one-game “play-in”,
where anything can happen and a stellar season can be over before the paint on
the MLB Playoff Logo dries on the turf behind home plate.

While these games have increased importance to the Red
Sox and Yankees, the series is absolutely essential for Red Sox starting
pitcher David Price.Price lasted only
one inning in his first start against the Yankees in early April, exiting after
allowing four runs and citing numbness in his hand as an excuse for not
remaining in the game.

In May, after losing three straight games and seeing
his record drop to 2-4 with a 5.11 ERA, Price missed a start in Yankee stadium
due to a re-occurrence of numbness which was later diagnosed as a mild case of
carpal tunnel syndrome, likely brought on by excessive video game playing.Whether deserved or not, Red Sox fans deemed
Price as “soft” and alleged he was afraid to face the powerful Yankee lineup.

Since missing the start against the Yankees in May,
Price has returned to All-Star form, going 7-1 with a 2.72 ERA.He has been dominant at times, and has
pitched at least six innings in seven of nine starts, including one complete
game.While Price may not be worth the
$30 million dolor salary he is being paid, he has been a solid number two
pitcher behind Chris Sale.

Has this string of pitching excellence won over the
hearts of Red Sox fans?Hardly, and much
of that is Price’s own doing.Price
continues to make flippant comments to the media concerning being soft or
missing starts, most recently after another strong performance against the Angels
on Tuesday night.When asked if he was
looking forward to his next start against the Yankees, Price wryly said “I don’t
think I’ll be able to go, I don’t think so.”When the reporter probed further and simply asked “Fortnite?”, Price
snorted and replied “Yeah, Fortnite.” And then walked away.This follows prior comments in which Price
claimed he didn’t want to pitch in the All-Star Game if selected, and would “play
a lot of Fortnite” so he wouldn’t be able to pitch.

Price may be attempting to make light of the
situation, or he may just be a major diva who can’t handle criticism.If it is the former, it isn’t working.Price does not have the charisma or the cache
with Red Sox fans to get away with such comments.

If it is the latter, Red Sox fans can tolerate Price’s
antics as long as he delivers on the mound.Red Sox fans not only tolerated but revered Roger Clemens for many years
despite his diva persona, and only turned on Clemens when his performance began
to slip.But while Clemens may have been
a diva, his desire to get the ball in big games was never in doubt.And this is where Price needs to step up, and
why his next start against the Yankees is so important.

Further adding to the drama is the fact that Price
will not pitch until the final game of the series.The Red Sox will send Eduardo Rodriguez to
the mound in Game 1, followed by Sale in Game 2.If the Red Sox should lose both games, the
pressure on Price to deliver and salvage the finale will be even greater.

Price does not need to pitch a complete game shutout
against the Yankees on Sunday night.He does
not need to be credited with a win.He
really doesn’t even need to pitch well.What
he does need to do is take the ball for his turn and simply pitch.Price cannot afford another instance of
numbness, allergy flare-up, or any other affliction which would get him out of
the game.

If Price pitches well on Sunday night, that’s
great.If he gets lit up, he needs to
stay in the game and show Red Sox fans that he is willing to battle until Alex
Cora comes out to the mound and takes the ball from his hand.Anything short of that and Price will be the
main topic of conversation on Boston sports radio and podcasts on Monday
morning and likely until the Red Sox face the Yankees again in August.

Nothing short of a playoff series win or two will ever
place Price in the hearts of Red Sox fans.But Price taking the mound, and possibly taking his lumps, against the
Yankees, can go a long way toward mending fences with the fans. And if he can accomplish that, then maybe,
just maybe, we will laugh at his post-game comments.

Other Red Sox Thoughts

Who’s
Trending Up

Last week, Mitch Moreland found himself on the
trending down list.He turned that trend
around in a hurry over the past week, batting .435 over six games last week.Moreland also knocked out four extra base
hits, including triples on consecutive nights over the weekend against Seattle.Moreland accounted for 13 runs with eight
runs scored and five batted in.

While technically not trending up because he has been
extremely consistent all season, J.D. Martinez had yet another stellar
week.Martinez batted .423 against
Minnesota and Seattle with four extra base hits of his own, knocked in five
runs and scored seven of his own.

Chris Sale had two starts against Minnesota and
Seattle, and both were the vintage Sale performances Red Sox fans have come to
expect from the lanky left-hander.Sale
pitched seven strong innings in each outing, posting a 1.29 ERA and striking
out 24.

Who’s
Trending Down

Like Mitch Moreland, Andrew Benintendi also reversed
his trending status from last week.Unfortunately for Benintendi, last week he was trending up.This week, he finds himself on the down side,
batting only .200 last week.

Follow Bill on Twitter @BTravers_BSoT.

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